MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG

NGUYỄN THỊ HƯƠNG LY

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TRANSLATION OF SENTENCES CONTAINING PARALLELISM IN

TRUYEN KIEU FROM VIETNAMESE INTO ENGLISH

MASTER OF ARTS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

(A SUMMARY)

Danang, 2013

This thesis has been completed at College of Foreign Languages, The University of Danang

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. PHAN VĂN HÒA

Examiner 1: Dr. Đinh Thị Minh Hiền Examiner 2: Assoc. Prof. Trần Văn Phước

This thesis was orally defended at the Examination Council at the University of Danang Time: 15th December, 2013 Venue: The University of Danang This thesis is available for the purpose of reference at: - Library of College of Foreign Languages, The University of Danang. - The Information Resources Center, The University of Danang.

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Nghiên cứu cách dịch sóng đôi trong truyện Kiều của Nguyễn

Du từ Tiếng Việt sang Tiếng Anh An Investigation into the Vietnamese – English translation of

parallelism in Truyen Kieu by Nguyen Du

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phan Van Hoa Nguyen Thi Hương Ly (B.A)

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1. RATIONALE

According to Peter Newark (1981), there is “no global communication without translation” [65, p.55]. Such a statement expresses the importance of translation in the globalized world nowadays. Translation is an activity that is growing phenomenally worldwide, as different languages and cultures are coming closer together everyday. Translation as communication signifies transference of values from one people to another, from one culture to another. Different people around the world use different languages so they need translation to understand each other. The translation of a language will allow us to open the doors to an unknown cultural and linguistic world.

Literary translation, as quite an important branch of translation, is really a big challenge to translators. Translations of literary works play a critical role in helping to exchange ideas across different languages and cultures and to enhance intercultural understanding. Literary translations are not just about translating one language into another word for word. A good literary translation must keep the meaning of the original text intact and use stylistics that are appropriate for the target language. A translated work must be able to convey to its readers the true sense and the same delight as the original text.

One of the greatest difficulties of translators in literature translation is translating figures of speech. The use of figurative language is universal, but the precise figures of speech in one language rarely match those in another, which brings about

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tremendous difficulties to the translation of figures of speech, because the paradoxes of translating are basically the paradoxes of language and of culture. It is the fact that among the figures of speech, parallelism is frequently used in short stories, verses and poems. Parallelism is an important and effective component of poetry.

In the treasure of Vietnamese literature, Truyện Kiều is an epic poem considered to be not only Nguyen Du's masterpiece but one of the crowning works of Vietnamese as well as the world literature. In this masterpiece, a variety of stylistic devices were wonderfully utilized to make its success. These stylistic devices make the epic more vividly, more poetic, and more smoothly. In these stylistic devices, one of the most heights that Nguyen Du achieved is parallelism (parallel structure).

This poetic masterpiece by Nguyen Du has been translated into many languages: Japanese, French, Germany, Russian, as well as English, an international language, etc... Nonetheless, due to a variety of linguistic, aesthetic and cultural problems, Truyện Kiều is really a big challenge for translators. The rendering of stylistic devices, such as metaphor, metonymy, euphemism, parallelism…and etc, becomes one of the greatest difficulties.

Parallelism, one of the most successful stylistic devices utilized by Nguyen Du in Truyện Kiều, has not been studied further. Parallelism is utilized wonderfully by Nguyễn Du to compose a lot of beautiful verses that contribute to make Truyện Kiều a masterpiece. Rendering adequately the parallelism in Truyện Kiều from Vietnamese into English is very significant. This thesis: “An Investigation into Translation of Sentences Containing Parallelism

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in Truyện Kiều from Vietnamese into English” is carried out to investigate parallelism in Truyện Kiều on the aspect of translation equivalence. It will discover how parallelism is transferred into English, the similarities and differences in different English versions as well as the most effective and frequently-used procedures in the translation. This study hopefully helps readers and learners of English have a further insight of the effect of parallelism used and Nguyen Du‘s talent.

1.2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

1.2.1. Aims

This research aims at investigating into the translation of parallelism in Truyện Kiều from Vietnamese into English in their different English versions by Vietnamese and foreign translators to identify the similarities and differences between the two versions as well as to generalize the effective ways of rendering this stylistic device.

1.2.2. Objectives The study is planned to:

- To examine the translation equivalence of the syntactic features of parallelism in Truyện Kiều in the English versions.

- To examine the translation equivalence of the semantic features of parallelism in Truyện Kiều in the English versions.

- To identify the similarities and differences in the translation of parallelism in Truyện Kiều between different English versions. - 1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Findings are discussed in relation to the following research questions of the study:

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1) How are the syntactic features of parallelism in Truyện Kiều translated from Vietnamese into English?

2) How are the semantic features of parallelism in Truyện Kiều translated from Vietnamese into English? 1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The research is carried out on the Vietnamese copy of Truyện Kiều revised by Đào Duy Anh [2] and complemented by Phan Ngọc [22] along with two poetic English versions: (1) The Tale of Kiều - a highly appreciated version by Huynh Sanh Thong (1983) - a Vietnamese translator and (2) Kiều by Micheal Counsell (1994) - an English translator. In addition, it will focus on the investigation into the translation of the syntactic and semantic features of parallelism in Truyện Kiều as well as the translation procedures in the two versions above. Translation procedures of sentences containing parallelism will be also discussed in this study. 1.5. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY The thesis consists of 5 chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Literature review Chapter 3: Methods and Procedures Chapter 4: Findings and discussion Chapter 5: Conclusions and implications

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CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1. THE REVIEW OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH

So far there have been a lot of researchers on translation of Truyen Kieu by linguists, language teachers and students. Hoang Truong Phuoc Loc [48] studied the translation theories and translation procedures related to hyperbole in Truyen Kieu. In the study of Le Van Thanh [59], he investigated into translation of metaphor and simile in Truyện Kiều from Vietnamese into English. He also studied the translation theory of Peter Newmark and translation procedures applied in translation of Metaphor and Simile. In his master thesis on linguistics, Dang Ngoc Cu [43] investigated parallelism in proverbs structurally and semantically. Vu Thuy An [80] described, classified and analyzed parallelism in terms of syntax and pragmatics in both English and Vietnamese political speeches. Vu Thi Chau Sa [81] studied the syntactic and semantic features of parallelism in English and Vietnamese songs.

2.2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.2.1. Theories of translation.

a. Definition of translation

Catford [38, p.20] stated that translation is the replacement of textual material in one language by equivalent textual material in another language. In the following definition, Newmark [65, p.7] stated "translation is a craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and/or statement in one language by the same message and/or statement in another language".

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b. Literary Translation

Literary translation is the translation of literary works, such as novels, short stories, poems, etc. Its function is to “bridge the delicate emotional connections between cultures and languages and furthers the understanding of human beings across national borders.” [94]

c. Translation Equivalence

Translation equivalence is a principal concept in translation theory. Catford [38, p.20] defined translation as "the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL)".

d. Types of Equivalence

Jakobson [53, p.54] suggested three kinds of equivalence known as:

-Intralingual (within one language, i.e. rewording or paraphrase)

- Interlingual (between two languages)

- Intersemiotic (between sign systems)

e. Translation methods

Newmark [65, p.45] introduced eight methods of translation: Word-for-word translation, Literal translation, Faithful translation, Semantic translation, Adaptation, Free translation, Idiomatic translation, Communicative translation.

f. Translation Procedures

Semantically, Newmark [65] proposed the following translation procedures: Transference, Naturalization, Cultural

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equivalent, Functional equivalent, Descriptive equivalent, Synonymy, Reduction/expansion, Paraphrase, Compensation, Componential analysis,Through-translation, Shifts or transpositions, Translation label, Couplets, Notes.

Syntactically, Catford divided the shifts in translation into two major types, level/rank shift and category shifts. Level/rank shift refers to a source language item at one linguistic level that has a target language translation equivalent at a different level.

2.2.2. Parallelism as Part of Stylistics.

a. Stylistics Many attempts have been made by different scholars to define

stylistics. To Leech, G.H and Short, M.H. [58, p.13], “stylistics is simply defined as the (linguistic) study of style, and is rarely taken for its own sake, simply as an exercise in describing what use is made of language”.

b. Stylistic devices (Rhetoric)

A stylistic device is “a conscious and intentional literary use of some of the facts of the language (including expressive means) in which the most essential features (both structural and semantic) of the language forms are raised to a generalized level and thereby present a generative model.” [45, p.26]

c. Definition of Parallelism

According to Hiatt. M [50], parallelism is either the reiteration “...of two or more words of the same form class in the same functional or syntactic situation, or the repetition of two or more constructions of the same grammatical classification in the same functional or syntactic situation”.

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d. Classification of Parallelism Galperin [45, p.208] classified parallelism into two main

types: partial parallel construction and complete parallel construction e. Function of Parallelism 2.2.3. The Author of Truyện Kiều - Nguyễn Du Nguyễn Du was born in the village of Tien Dien, in Nghi

Xuan district of Ha Tinh province. He is a celebrated Vietnamese poet who wrote in Chữ Nôm, the ancient writing script of Vietnam. Nguyễn Du wrote many interesting works in Nôm, an early form of the Vietnamese language, and classical Chinese. These include Văn Chiêu Hồn (Call to Wandering Souls), Sinh tế Trường Lưu Nhị Nữ (Funeral Oration for Two Daughters of Trường Lưu) written in their lifetime, Thác Lời Trai Phường Nón (In the style of the Boys of the Guild of Conical Hat Makers ), Thanh Hiên thi tập (Poems of Thanh Hien), Bắc hành tạp lục (Travels to the North ), poems written during a mission to China (1813), and Nam Trung tạp ngâm (Various Poems) written at Hue and Thai Binh (1805-1812).

2.2.4. Truyện Kiều Truyện Kiều (The Tale of Kiều) is the popular name given to

Đoạn Trường Tân Thanh (“A New Cry From A Broken Heart”), an epic poem composed by Nguyễn Du circa 1810. It consists of 3,254 verses in lục bát (literally, "six eight") - a popular rhythmic pattern of Vietnamese poetry made up of alternating verses with six and eight metrical feet. Truyện Kiều features ample social commentary regarding the contemporary feudal society, through the life story of the main character Vương Thúy Kiều

2.2.5. English versions of Truyện Kiều There are 6 English versions of Truyện Kiều including Kim

Van Kieu by Lê Xuân Thủy (1968), The Tale of Kiều by Huỳnh Sanh Thông (1983), Kiều by Michael Councell (1994), The Story of Kiều

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by Lê Cao Phan (1996), Kiều by Hoài Văn Tử (1996), and The Kim Van Kieu by Vladislav Zhukov (2004).

2.2.6. The translators Huỳnh Sanh Thông and Micheal Councell 2.3. SUMMARY

CHAPTER 3

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

3.1. RESEARCH METHODS

The study is carried out with the following methods: descriptive, contrastive, qualitative, and quantitative methods. In addition, the study is carried out with the combination of other methods such as statistical, and analytical ones.

3.2. RESEARCH PROCEDURES 3.3. DATA COLLECTION AND DATA ANALYSIS

3.3.1. Data collection

This research is restricted to the parallelism in a verse with rhythm 3/3 and 4/4 in Truyện Kiều by Nguyễn Du and their translation equivalents in two English versions by Huỳnh Sanh Thông (1983) and Micheal Counsell (1994)

The research examines 1086 samples of parallelism (362 samples in Truyện Kiều and 724 samples of their translation equivalents in the two English versions.

3.3.2. Data analysis 3.4. RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY 3.5. SUMMARY

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CHAPTER 4

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1. THE TRANSLATION OF THE SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF PARALLELISM IN TRUYỆN KIỀU FROM VIETNAMESE INTO ENGLISH

4.1.1. The Translation of the Syntactic Features of Parallelism in Truyện Kiều in the English Version by Huỳnh Sanh Thông

a. Structure-shifts

(1) Rụng rời khung dệt/ tan tành gói [2, p. 30]

à They smashed workbaskets, shattered looms to baskets

[52, p.31] Structure-shifts V1 + S1 + V2 + S2 àS+ V1 + O2 + V2 + O2 + C

Rụng rời khung dệt/ tan tành gói may V1 S1 V2 S2

They smashed workbaskets, shattered looms to baskets

S V1 O2 V2 O2 C

b. Class-shifts

(2) Ngày xanh mòn mỏi/ má hồng phôi pha [2, p.6]

à Blighting green days and fading rose-fresh cheeks

[52, p.8]

Class –shifts

NP+NPàVP+Conj + VP

Ngày xanh mòn mỏi/ má hồng phôi pha

NP NP

Blighting green days and fading rose-fresh cheeks.

VP Conj VP

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c. Unit-shifts

(3) Mây thua nước tóc/ tuyết nhường màu da [2, p. 1]

à Her hair the sheen of clouds, her skin white snow [52, p.1]

Unit –shifts

Clauseà Noun phrase.

Mây thua nước tóc/ tuyết nhường màu da

S1 V1 O1 S2 V2 O2

Her hair the sheen of clouds, her skin white snow

NP1 NP2

d. Intra-system shifts

(4) Lễ tâm đã đặt/ tụng kì cũng xong [2, p. 36]

à Gifts once presented, charges were dismissed [52, p.38]

Table 4.1: Singular Nouns in Vietnamese were Changed into Plural Nouns in English in Huynh Sanh Thong’s Version

Vietnamese Singular Nouns English Plural Nouns

lễ tâm gifts

tụng kì charges

e. Frequency of syntactic translation procedures

Table 4.2: Frequency Order of Syntactic Translation Procedures by Huỳnh Sanh Thông

Procedures Occurrences Percentage

Unit-shifts 184 50.8%

Structure-shifts 123 33.9%

Class-shifts 31 8.5%

Intra-system-shifts 24 5.8%

Total 362 100%

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4.1.2. The Translation of the Syntactic Features of Parallelism in Truyện Kiều in the English version by Micheal Counsell

a. Structure - shifts

(5) Tu là cội phúc/ tình là dây oan [2, p.136]

à Hot passion is a fire which only leads to sufferings

[39, p.142]

Strucutre –shifts

S1 + V1 + C1 + S2 + V2 + C2à S + V + C

Tu là cội phúc/ tình là dây oan

S1 V1 C1 S2 V2 C2

Hot passion is a fire which only leads to sufferings

S V C

b. Class-shifts

(6) Nhờ tay tế độ/ vớt người trầm luân [2, p.56]

à By stretching forth his generous hand [ 39, p.209]

Class –shifts

Verb Phraseà Prepositional Phrase

Nhờ tay tế độ/ vớt người trầm luân

VP1 VP2

à By stretching forth his generous hand

Prep P

c. Unit-shifts

(7) Vàng gieo ngấn nước/ cây lồng bóng sân [2, p.11 ]

à Spread paths of silver on the ponds. [39, p.43]

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Unit –shifts

Clause à Verb Phrase

Vàng gieo ngấn nước/ cây lồng bóng sân

S1 V1 O1 S2 V2 O2

Spread paths of silver on the ponds

VP PP

d. Intra-system-shifts

(8) Kề răng hùm sói/gởi thân tôi đòi [2,p.136]

à Living with bandits hid away with servants [40,p.518]

Table 4.3: Singular Nouns in Vietnamese were Changed into Plural Nouns in English in Micheal Counsell ‘s Version

Vietnamese Singular Nouns English Plural Nouns

hùm sói bandits

thân tôi đòi servants

e. Frequency of syntactic translation procedures

Table 4.4: Frequency Order of Syntactic Translation Procedures by Micheal Counsell

Procedures Occurrences Percentage

Unit-shifts 204 56.3 %

Structure-shifts 116 32 %

Class-shifts 34 9.3 %

Intra-system-shifts 8 2.2 %

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4.1.3. Summary

4.2. THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN TERM OF SYNTAX BETWEEN THE TWO ENGLISH VERSIONS BY HUYNH SANH THONG AND MICHEAL COUNSEL

Table 4.5: The Frequency of Syntactic Translation Procedures Used by Huynh Sanh Thong and Micheal Counsell.

Translation procedures Huỳnh Sanh Thông

Micheal Counsell

Unit-shifts 50.8% 56.3 %

Structure-shifts 33.9% 32 %

Class-shifts 8.5% 9.3 %

Intra-system-shifts 5.8% 2.2 %

Total 100% 100 % 4.2.1.Similarities 4.2.2. Differences

4.3. THE TRANSLATION OF THE SEMANTIC FEATURES OF PARALLELISM IN TRUYỆN KIỀU FROM VIETNAMESE INTO ENGLISH

4.3.1. The Translation of the Semantic Features of Parallelism in Truyện Kiều in the English Version by Huỳnh Sanh Thông

a. Literal Translation (9) Thác là thể phách/ còn là tinh anh [2, p. 8 ] à The body passes on, the soul remains [52, p.10]

This sentence described the situation when Kieu found the grave of a dead singer—Dam Tien. She felt pitiful for such a talented and young woman as Dam Tien.

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Source text Literal Translation

Thác passes on

thể phách the body

còn là remains

tinh anh the soul

b. Reduction

(10) Tiếng gà điếm nguyệt/ dấu giày cầu sương [2, p. 12 ] à Cockcrow from moon-lit huts, fresh marks [52, p. 14]

In (10), “Cockcrow from moon-lit huts, fresh marks” is the English equivalent of the parallelism” Tiếng gà điếm nguyệt/ dấu giày cầu sương”. Obviously, there is an omission of the noun phrases “giày cầu sương” in English equivalent

Source Text Tiếng gà điếm nguyệt/ dấu giày cầu sương

Target Text Cockcrow from moon-lit huts, fresh marks

Reduction Giày cầu sương

c. Expansion

(11) Mai cốt cách/ tuyết tinh thần [2, p. 80 ]

àBodies like slim plum branches, snow-pure souls

[52, p. 82]

The translator added two adjective “slim“ and “pure” in order to make its meanings clearer. By using expansion, the translator help the reader more understand the beauty of Thuy Kieu and Thuy Van.

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Source Text Mai cốt cách/ tuyết tinh thần

Target Text Bodies like slim plum branches, snow-pure souls

Expansion Slim, pure

d. Paraphrase

(12) Trao tơ phải lứa/ gieo cầu đáng nơi [2, p. 35]

à She might find a fitting match, might wed a worthy mate

[53, p. 37]

By using these classic references related to marriage, Thuy Kieu’s father wished that his daughter could wed a worthy mate.

This parallelism was translated into English as follows: She might find a fitting match, might wed a worthy mate. The translator used Paraphrase in his translation to make westerns readers easily understand the implication of these classic references.

e. Frequency of semantic translation procedures

Table 4.6: Occurrence Frequency of Semantic Translation Procedures by Huỳnh SanhThông

Procedure Occurrences Percentage

Literal translation 112 30,9%

Reduction 86 23,7%

Expansion 75 20,7%

Paraphrase 89 24,5 %

Total 362 100%

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4.3.2. The Translation of the Semantic Features of Parallelism in Truyện Kiều in the English Version by Micheal Counsell.

a. Literal translation

(13) Người dầu muốn quyết/ trời nào đã cho [2, p. 52]

à You might wish to die. Heaven would never have agreed

[39,p. 195]

In Truyen Kieu Dictionary by Đào Duy Anh [1], the word “quyết” has three meaning and the third meaning is “quit or die” [1, p.448]. So, the word “quyết” in Vietnamese and “die” in English have the similar meaning. Successfully, the translator almost retains the general idea and style of the original based on the literal translation .

Source text Literal translation text

người You

dầu muốn might wish

quyết to die

trời Heaven

nào đã cho would never have agreed

b.Reduction

(14) Hình dung chải chuốt/ áo khăn dịu dàng [2, p. 115 ]

à He wore fine tailoring [39, p. 56 ]

Source Text Hình dung chải chuốt/ áo khăn dịu dàng

Target Text He wore fine tailoring

Reduction Hình dung chải chuốt

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c. Expansion

(15) Người nách thước/ kẻ tay đao [2, p.107]

à A dozen ugly thugs, all armed with clubs and daggers

[39, p. 115]

By the expansion procedure, the phrase A dozen ugly was added in the English version. The translator may want to emphasize the cruelty of these people. He helps the readers understand more the situation that the family of Kieu suffered from.

Source Text Người nách thước/ kẻ tay đao

Target Text A dozen ugly thugs, all armed with clubs and daggers

Expansion A dozen ugly

d. Paraphrase

(16) Chia phôi ngừng chén/ hợp tan nghẹn lời [2, p. 79]

à A farewell cup of wine they drank.Their hearts within them sank; Kieu’s words seemed strangled in her throat.

[39,p. 294]

Similarly, this is another example of paraphrase. The writer successfully described the separation between Thuc Sinh and Thuy Kieu. By the procedure of paraphrase, this parallelism was translated into English as follows: A farewell cup of wine they drank. Their hearts within them sank; Kieu’s words seemed strangled in her throat. It can be said that this paraphrase is very closed in in meaning to the original text, which helps the target readers understand the author’s implication.

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e. Frequency of semantic translation procedures

Table 4.7: Occurrence Frequency of Semantic Translation Procedures by Micheal Counsell

Procedure Occurrences Percentage

Literal translation 76 20,9 %

Reduction 70 19,3 %

Expansion 72 19,8 %

Paraphrase 144 39,7 %

Total 362 100%

4.3.3. Summary

4.4. THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN TERM OF SEMANTICS BETWEEN THE TWO TRANSLATIONS

Table 4.8: The Occurrence Frequency of Semantic Translation Procedures Used by Huỳnh Sanh Thông and Micheal Counsell

Huỳnh Sanh Thông Micheal Counsell Procedure Percentage Procedure Percentage

Literal translation

30,9 % Paraphrase 39,7 %

Paraphrase 24,5 % Literal translation 20,9 % Reduction 23,7 % Expansion 19,8% Expansion 20, 7% Reduction 19,3 % Total 100% Total 100%

4.4.1. Similarities

4.4.2. Differences

4.5. SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 4

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CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 1.1. CONCLUSIONS

This is a new and difficult subject, but it gives us interesting results and high application. This investigation has applied the Translation Theory of Catford [38] and Peter Newmark [65] to illuminate the translations of Huỳnh Sanh Thông and Micheal Counsell. Parallel structure has been applied successfully and it has become an unique art in Truyện Kiều.

The followings are what the study has reached in the course of investigating:

Firstly, the study has investigated the translation of syntactic features of parallelism from Vietnamese into English, the researcher find that all the types of translation procedures suggested by Catford including Structure-shifts, Unit-shifts, Class- shifts and Intra-system-shifts have been employed in the translations of parallelism in Truyện Kiều from Vietnamese into English by Huỳnh Sanh Thông and Micheal Counsell. It can be seen that Unit- shifts is the most commonly used and Intra-system-shifts is the least commonly used in both English versions by Huỳnh Sanh Thông and Micheal Counsell. Beside the similarities, there are some differences between the two English versions. The most striking points we can see are as follows: Unit – shifts accounts for 50.8% in version by Huỳnh Sanh Thông while in the translation by Micheal Counsell, the percentage is 56.3%, 5% higher in comparison with the former. Next, Structure – shifts ranks second position in both English versions. However, Structure –

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shift in the translation by Huỳnh Sanh Thông is slightly higher than the translation by Micheal Counsell (33.9% compared with 32%). The third position in both versions is Class-shifts and Class- shifts in translation by Huỳnh Sanh Thông is more twice higher than Class – shift in translation by Micheal Counsell ( 5.8% versus 2.2% ).

Secondly, in term of semantics, 4 main procedures suggested by Peter Newmark were found in the examining of the translations of parallelism in Truyện Kiều in two English versions by Huỳnh Sanh Thông and Micheal Counsell. They are Literal translation, Reduction, Expansion, and Paraphrase. The most prominent used procedures in both translations were Paraphrase and Literal translation reaching to 55.4% of the total procedures in the translation by Huỳnh Sanh Thông and 60.6% in the translation by Micheal Counsell. However, there are also some differences between the two translations: Literal translation ranks the first position with 30.9% in translation by Huỳnh Sanh Thông while Paraphrase takes the highest percentage up to 39.7% in translation by Micheal Counsell. Paraphrase is at the second postion with 24.5% in version by Huỳnh Sanh Thông while Literal translation ranks second with 20.9% in version by Micheal Counsell. In version by Huỳnh Sanh Thông, the third and the fourth are Reduction and Expansion with 23.7% and 20.7%. On the contrary, Expansion and Reduction respectively rank third and fourth with 19.8% and 19.3% in the one by Micheal Counsell.

Thirdly, with a total of 30% literal translation, the translation by Huỳnh Sanh Thông is closer, more precise, more lively to the original than the version by Micheal Counsell in term of syntax as well as in term of semantics.

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Fourthly, in translating syntactic features of parallelism in Truyện Kiều in particular and in poems in general, the most effective procdures are Structure-shifts, Unit-shifts, Class–shifts and Paraphrase and Literal translation in translating the semantic features of parallelism.

Fifthly, it seems that Huỳnh Sanh Thông is a Vietnamese so he could understand Vietnamese culture and share the author’s ideas deeper than a foreign translator.

Sixthly, it can be reevaluated that parallelism is one of the unique rhetorical devices in both Vietnamese and English.

Finally, the collection of 1086 samples of parallelism in Truyện Kiều and their English equivalent is a useful source of material for not only translators, teachers and learners of English but also for interpreters, readers and those who love the masterpiece Truyện Kiều by Nguyễn Du.

5.2. IMPLICATIONS

5.2.1. Implications on translation work

Firstly, in translating the parallelism, translator should equip themselves with rich and well-rounded knowledge in relation to parallelism. Futhermore, the translator must have good knowledge of the cultures, customs and characteristics of the places where source language and target language are formed and used.

Secondly, the translator must know well which procedures are the most suitable for their readers and who their readers are in order to transfer the parallelism to target language easily and accurately.

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Thirdly, translation of parallelism in poetry is one of the most challenging tasks for translators. The task of a translator is to make an art from art, keeping the aesthetic value of the work. One of the most important criteria for a good poetry translation is that the TL text should be as beautiful as the SL. Poetry effect from images should be sensitive to TL readers in the same way as SL readers. So, when transferring parallelism in poems, it is important for a translator to have the knowledge of not only parallelism but also poetry so that he or she can reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the original as well as maintain the rhythm and metre of the verses.

5.2.2. Implications on language teaching and learning The study proves to be a trustful reference for translators who wish to render perfect translations. This dissertation will provide teachers and learners withsome important knowledge that help them transfer some term of this stylistic devices as well as help them consolidate knowledge of this figure of speech. Moreover, they also learn which translation procedures they should choose. Simultaneously, they can know more about the cultures of Vietnamese and the English. As for Truyện Kiều, teachers and learners can understand more profoundly about its plot, figurative terms, classic referents which are very difficult for them to perceive. To sum up, this study is very useful for learners and teachers, not only on the aspect of stylistic devices but also on the aspect of translation.

5.3. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Although great efforts have been made, this research paper certainly cannot avoid shortcomings. Parallelism is not only a big

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topic concerning a wide range of linguistic areas, but also a stylistics device that is both complicated and problematic. The topic under investigation may not have been thoroughly analyzed as it should have been due to the lack of time. In addition, the collected data are only from Truyện Kiều, so the popularity of parallelism is obviously restricted. For those limitations, it would be very grateful to receive any comments from teachers, friends, and those who are concerned, hoping to make the research a better one.

5.4. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

This thesis has made an investigation into the translation of parallelism from Vietnamese into English in English versions of “Truyện Kiều” in terms of syntax and semantics. Following from this, there are some other aspects that have not been dealt with within the scope of this framework such as:

- The translation of parallelism and stylistic features of parallelism in Truyện Kiều from Vietnamese into English.

- The translation of the linguistic features of parallelism from Vietnamese poetry into English.